A defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, and staff have been instructed to avoid talking about secret matters in all vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any kind of car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This wider defence situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in all areas of government activities, from transport use to discussions habits.
